The Hero’s Journey Understanding the story structure that links ancient literature to modern film

The Hero’s Journey Since ancient times, civilizations on every continent have used a form of this story to unite their people and confirm that all of us live and grow through our experiences. This story is so universal, myth researcher Joseph Campbell successfully argued that it fulfills a most basic need of all humanity: to witness that we are all connected through our struggles, and therefore, none of us are alone. The chart on the right shows the progress of a hero from his ordinary world, through the specialized world of change and/or experience, back to his world as a more complete person.

ORDINARY WORLD The hero’s journey always begins with us seeing the hero in every day life. We see what the hero’s life is like. We need to see this in order to understand when and how things change on his or her journey. As an example, let’s use Stars Wars: A New Hope. (No, it is not my favorite film of all time, and no we are not all going to geek out. It just is well known and easy to use as an example. Deal with it.) Here we see a kid (Luke Skywalker) in his lame, desert home town. We need to see this to understand how special his life gets “special” when he goes off to fight villains in space.

ORDINARY WORLD Of course, the story does not have to be that exotic. Here we see the kids of “Slumdog Millionaire” playing in a dump. Their ordinary world is not that different from Luke Skywalker’s. But I found more pics from Star Wars, so you’re stuck. Deal with it.. Back to the hero’s journey….

CALL TO ADVENTURE After we see the hero in his ordinary world, something happens that changes or challenges the hero’s world so much that it will never be the same (s/he’s got to do something or live with his/her failure to act). Here, Luke Skywalker literally gets the call to adventure in the form of a hologram of Princess Lea actually asking for help.

REFUSAL OF THE CALL The hero usually resists the adventure (people do not like change/are afraid of the unknown). After they get the message, Obi Wan (the old dude to the far right) asks Luke to come save the princess, but Luke whines that he can’t go adventuring through the galaxies because he’s got do chores.

MEETING WITH THE MENTOR After refusing the call (or, in the case of Star Wars: A New Hope, while the hero is being lame and refusing the call) the hero meets a teacher of some kind (wise old man or woman, best friend, wizard, Aunt Petunia, whomever) who teaches him/her, gives him/her what s/he needs to be able to go on this adventure. In “Star Wars IV: A New Hope”, the old dude, Obi Wan Kenobe, is the mentor. And much cooler than Luke.

CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD Usually something happens that pushes the hero into the adventure. The hero begins his journey or responds to the problem. His/her life will never be the same; s/he now enters the “special world” of the adventure. For Luke, it took the villains invading to his home and killing his aunt and uncle to get him going. Tortured by guilt, Luke now wants to “join the rebels” and battle “the empire.”

TEST, ALLIES, ENEMIES Upon entering the special world of the adventure, the hero is tested, meets people who want to help (allies) and who want to harm (enemies) him/her. S/he is learning the rules of this special world. Yeah, Luke meets theses guys.

Tests, allies, and enemies …the enemies part Luke almost got killed by this guy…

TEST, ALLIES, ENEMIES …. And this guy. Darth Vader, never fun at parties.

APPROACH TO THE INMOST CAVE The hero journeys toward his/her greatest fear (death, the villain’s headquarters, overwhelming odds, failure, no prom date). In this case, the ship carrying Luke, etc. is swallowed by this bigger battle cruiser (an allusion to Jonah and the whale in The Bible). The problem always seems insurmountable…

ORDEAL The hero faces this greatest fear (a death experience, loss, comes face-to- face with failure or his/her greatest enemy) and struggles to survive the experience. In Star Wars: a New Hope, the heroes wind up in a giant trash compactor, about to get squashed to death.

ORDEAL Also, Luke’s mentor, Obi Wan, sacrifices himself to Darth Vader, dying so Luke, etc. can escape.

REWARD (SEIZING THE SWORD) The hero survives, escapes or wins his/her battle and earns something as a result (a needed weapon, wisdom, saving someone, a treasure, etc.). In this case, Luke begins to understand Obi’s commitment to his cause, and begins to discover the power tied to that faith. He becomes better at using his weapon, the light saber he’s testing out at right.

THE ROAD BACK The hero begins journey back toward his/her ordinary world, but is pursued by his enemy. Here, Luke joins the rebels in discussing plans to destroy the Empire’s greatest weapon, the Death Star (yeah, it sounds a lot scarier when you’re seven…)

THE ROAD BACK However, they get followed, then invaded by Darth Vader and his storm troopers.

RESURRECTION There is one more battle with the hero’s enemy, usually resulting in a death experience of some kind (actual death, apparent death, loss of love, failure of some kind). The hero rises above this (s/he’s not really dead!) (wins back is/her love, or job, etc.), and beats down the enemy decisively. In this tale, Luke and the rebels need to destroy this planet-sized weapon…

RESURRECTION …. And they do. Big old death planetoid go boom.

RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR The hero returns to his ordinary world changed for the better because s/he has earned the elixir (wisdom, treasure, true love, etc.). S/he is a better, more complete person because of this journey. In Star Wars: A New Hope, the heroes get medals and …. A new hope. Luke has discovered something worth sacrificing for, and is better for this experience. He will never be a whiny kid again. So that’s how the hero’s journey works. Now go apply it to one of your favorite films….